Galvin weighs appeal of ruling curbing authority

Tuesday, February 5, 2013 -- Anonymous (not verified)

Sections:

Local Politics

Wednesday, February 6, 2013

Author(s):

Chris Cassidy

Secretary of State William Galvin said his office may appeal a Superior Court judge’s decision that Galvin overstepped his authority by requiring lobbyists to disclose all communications — even brief chats — with lawmakers.

“We want to read it over and see where it goes from here,” Galvin told the Herald yesterday about the decision. “Obviously we’re disappointed.”

A half-dozen advocacy groups, who also use lobbyists, sued Galvin last year over a 2010 ethics reform law they claim he inconsistently enforced.

They argued that for the first time, Galvin told them to submit lists of all lawmakers the lobbyists spoke or wrote to and the bills they addressed in their twice-a-year lobbyist disclosure filings.

“This story is more about a public official abusing their authority, in a way, with an interpretation that makes no sense,” said Pam Wilmot of Common Cause, one of the plaintiffs. “You cannot allow officials to just invent things out of whole cloth ... regardless of who the target is.”

The suit was brought by the leaders of Common Cause, the Conservation Law Foundation, AirStrategies, the ACLU, Citizens for Juvenile Justice and the Associated Industries of Massachusetts.

But Galvin defended the need for greater lobbyist disclosures.

“If you don’t know who they’re communicating with, that’s obviously a real problem in terms of public transparency,” Galvin told the Herald.